I just wanted to give a shout out to Jared of Lead Wake. My friends and I just purchased 11 bags from him and he was great to deal with. He even split the order up and shipped it to 5 different addresses so I didn't have to run around and drop them off to my buddies. The bags are VERY well built with a handle so they are easy to move around the boat. They are smaller than the POP bags and are 50 lbs each instead of POP's 40 lbs. Here is his contact info if anyone is interested:

I hadn't heard of leadwake in a bit and thought they were done with these bags. I picked up a few a couple of years ago from Bryan (westsiderippa) and man they've held up nicely. How were they shipped to you? I have a couple buds that may be interested in a few. I'll pass on the email info.

Love my Lead Wake bags! I paid $50 for the 50 lb bags. I have 8 bags and I keep them in a plastic tub with sealing lid on top that fit right under my port and starboard seats, so they never get wet or slimy. Jared went out of his way to deliver my bags to the dealership I bought my V226 from in Cali, and they just tossed them on board before it was shipped to VT.

I have 6 of them in the bow of my boat and love them. Jared was very easy to deal with and the product is top notch. My USPS driver would'nt deliver them, so I had to go to the post office to pick up. Other than that they are great.

I have 8 bags in my bow and 4 in my cab under the seats. They are heavy duty for sure and have had no problem with them in 2 seasons. I highly recommend them, they are by far the best thing on the market.

Jared from Lead Wake...... Oh yeah, the guy that wanted to be a SpringRide sponsor, and then BURNED US and refused to pay after showing up at our event and selling a bunch of his product. Yup, total stand-up guy.

Glad you had a better experience Ryan. He's the only guy to ever burn us.

That's too bad. I paid a little more for a product I could have got somewhere else because they were trying to help the wakeboard scene and I got burned too. I'm not going to blast them in open public but it's a shame in an economy like this, especially in our sport when a business burns fellow enthusiasts.

Ok Jarrod, obviously you stil hold a grudge. Lets lay out the FACTS first for everyone to gather there own opinion. And by the way, I am a "stand-up-guy" ask anyone I've ever sold bags to and they'll tell you the same thing.
Here's how it all went down for those that care to read....
I contacted Jarrod of CIE back in early 2009 about displaying my bags and possibly putting some bags on the tow-boats for the competition that spring. He told me that would be great and that the booth prices are $350.00. (I had hoped that there would have been some sort of break since I was allowing them to use my Lead Wake™ bags on their tow boats). Regardless, I drove up to Bass lake for the '09 Spring Ride with 5000 pounds of lead in the back of my truck. I met Jarrod, and several of the CIE guys and they all seemed like great guys. I set up my table with some brochures and my lead on display and placed 20 bags
(1000 pounds) of lead on the boats split between the 2 (10 bags on each) for the competition.
During the competition I met some great people, had a good time, and ended up contacting some good "PROSPECTIVE BUYERS" as a matter of fact...the only lead I sold from that whole competiton was to Trevor Maur's parents and it was 2 bags...yes 2 bags only. I later met Brian Scott at the competition who ended up purchasing 10 bags a few days later.
At the end of the competition I began removing my lead from the boats. After removing the first 10 bags, Jarrod said , "Why don't you leave those other 10 bags with me and I'll sell them for you and send you a check for the bags." I even wrote this all down (and still have it to this day) because I wanted to remind myself where all of my Lead was. Believing that it was a win/ win situation, I left the bags on the boat with the intention that Jarrod would sell the bags and send me payment for the 10 bags. A couple days later, I contacted Jarrod and asked him if he had already sold the (10) Lead Wake™ bags. His reply was that he only had 4 bags...because that was all that he had found on the boat. Well many of you know that 300 lbs of lead doesnt just get up and walk away. I wasn't quick to blame Jarrod, I simply asked him to call around to the other guys to see if they had seen it or knew where it may have been placed. He called around and was unsuccessful in finding the remaining 6 bags. {On a side note, he introduced me to his friend Shon Garten (of Off axis board shop up north) who also requested that I leave 20 bags (1000 lbs) of lead with him so that he could put it in his shop and sell them for me at a price of $35.00 per bag. He said that he was "good for the money" and that he would have lots of people interested in purchasing the lead. His wife even stood there and told me how honest he is and that he wouldn't stiff me and that he could be trusted. I guess I'm just a gullible guy who believes that people will do what that say they will.} Do you think I ever saw a single dime of that $700 which is what that lead would have sold for??? Nope, not a single penny...and trying to get ahold of that guy was next to impossible...even when you have his home phone number, personal cell number and his email and even try numerous times to contact him here on Wakeworld.
Back to the original story...I asked Jarrod what he thought we should do about those other 6 bags, and he said that it wasn't his responsiblity. I reminded him about our conversation regarding the 10 bags left on the boat and that he would try and sell them for me up in the Northern California area. He continued to say that he can't be held responsible for the lead and that is why the owner of the stereo equipment provider for that competition immediately went down and removed the tower speakers from the boat as soon as the competition was finished. I didn't have a contract or anything drawn up regarding the bags, because I felt that Jarrod was being straight up with me.... and from that one incident I have changed the way I do business. I felt that I was being taken for a ride and that I would never see my Lead bags or my money. I told Jarrod that I don't feel I'm 100% responsible for the missing Lead Wake™ bags because I had entrusted them with him based on our conversation and his word that he would try and sell them for me. I then told Jarrod, that I would assume some responsibility for the missing Lead Wake bags, but I had left them with him and he had agreed to that. I even offered to assume the cost of half of the bags ($150.00 )and pay the remaining portion to cover the booth rental. He again said that it's not his responsibility and then proceeded to ask me for $350.00 for the booth rental at the competition....Now, at this time, I'm feeling like I was completely scammed and on top of it I'm being asked for $350.00 which I rightfully owed to CIE for allowing me to display my lead at their competition. I also never received any money for the 4 bags that he said he had in his possession.
The situation was never resolved, I never saw any money for the 10 bags I left with Jarrod, nor did I ever see anything from Shon Garten...I spent the following year trying to get ahold of Shon Garten even contacting his shop to inquire about my Lead bags and the sales associate said all the bags were sold.
NOW that all of the facts have been established, I leave it for the readers of this post to decide....And just to clear my conscience and prove that I am a "stand-up guy" and believe in honest business...I'm willing to send you payment for the booth that you allowed me to setup at the competition if you're willing to accept some responsibility for the missing bags and we split the cost.
Again I have no ill thoughts of Jarrod or any of the CIE guys, I think they run a great competition every year and are trying to promote the sport of wakeboarding that we all enjoy.

Bought 5 or 6 bags from Jared last year and would recommend them to anyone. Very good quality and size, and they are easy to move around and stash in the boat where they are needed most. Very easy guy to work with and was very responsive. Got the bags much sooner than I anticipated (due to weight - I thought they would take a while. Though I'm sure my postman wasn't happy!)

I already have a ton of Pop Bags but based on Jared's story above, I just ordered 4 Lead Wake bags to replace a coupe Pop Bags in my bow. I'm a pretty trusting guy and have been burned a couple times in the last 7 years of owning my company. I hate to see people get taken advantage of and that's exactly what it sounds like happened to him, twice.

Wow this thread is getting exciting all of a sudden... we have Tucker the lead police and now a great story from TWO THOUSAND AND NINE over THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS?

Seriously... I think it's time to let it go... there's two sides to every story but it sounds like it was worse for the leadwake guy. Either way it went down, there's no need to call the guy out publicly after others are praising his product/business.

I have other lead bags that barely get moved or taken out of the boat and I've already split a few open, so now they are duct taped together. A sealed bag sounds pretty money. I'd buy em if I needed more.

Does anyone happen to know the relative density of lead versus sand? I'm asking because sand is so incredibly cheap. It would be so much cheaper and less toxic if I could make my own sand bags than opt for these kind of lead bags or even the other idea of recycled tire weights I've seen on this board. My fear is sand is not dense enough and would take up too much space to be effective.

Don't trust anyone. Get everything in writing. It will keep everyone honest and counting. I've been burned for a lot more than lead bags in the past on hand shakes. Again, contracts/invoices with signatures for everything. Unfortunately you have learned the hard way. Keep it in your head that it could have been worse and move on. What comes around goes around!!!!

I don't see how your business with those guys has anything to do with our business agreement. Although I did make phone calls for you to try and get your debt settled, hoping that you would do the right thing and pay us. So I guess burning us was your way of recovering your other losses.

You insisted that we run your lead bags in the contest boat so that your bags could be seen in the boat, when we already had more than enough weight, and when you failed to come pick up your bags, and they had somehow disappeared, you blamed us. We never needed your bags, and never asked you for them. At the end of the event, you came back and said, "where are my bags" and I told you that I didn't know. There was no arrangement for you to leave anything with us.

We've talked about this several times on the phone, so I don't know where this elaborate new story came from. On at least one occasion, you actually agreed to pay us, but never followed through.

Anyway, you're reason why we no longer operate on a hand shake. Good luck.

Sounds like he was trying to help out with supplying bags which typically would be a win-win (get some weight in boat and get some publicity). Seems like a pretty harmless offer. You would think that helping out a new guy on the scene would be the right thing to do.

By allowing him on the boat to place the lead bags or to take posession on the dock makes your responsible for them. Even if you removed them from the boat after determining they are not needed, you should have promptly returned them or kept them in a safe place where they could not grow legs.

If you didn't need them, then you should have made it clear and not taken possession.

Sucks for both parties really. It's drama that this sport does not need.

Mine stay in the boat. I would not want to lug them in and out. Mine all sit on Dri-Dek panels now so no need to move them but before I had the Dri-Dek, we would move them or stand them up so that no mildew or mold would form from the bag sitting on wet carpet.

I wouldn't want to buy a boat that has had lead sitting in it for a long period of time...

Because a sport boat hull is not designed to have localized weight sitting in it for long periods of time. The engine and othe major components are located on the stringers. All the other weight is spread over a much larger area for support. Fiberglass flexes and fractures over time with localized weight. When you add trailering the boat in to the mix, every little bump bounces the lead, further damaging the hull. Trailering lead also leads to additional weight on the trailer that it was not designed for, additional load on the tow vehicle, premature wear on the brakes and bearings too.

Lead is also much more dangerous to have in the boat when on the lake. Water ballast is neutrally buoyant. Lead on the other hand is not. Most of today's boats are designed to float even when the hull is filled with water. If the boat has lead in it and fills with water it has a good chance of sinking to the bottom. If your boat sinks your insurance is very aware of current boat design and mighgt not cover your loss if they find lead in it. I know of four insurance claims where this happened. I also have first hand word of the above described damage from Bob Lacovara, Correct Craft, and from the local fiberglass repair shop - Fractured Fiberglass.

Furthermore, I don't know about you, but I go to a lot of large lakes where I regularly makes runs of long distances to my favorite wakeboarding spots. On these runs I have my ballast empty until I reach the smooth section of the lake or until I reach my camping spot. Having lead on the boat would just burn more gas and increase wear and tear on the boat and engine.

In summary, carrying lead on the boat for ballast is stupid, either learn proper form, or use water ballast. Damn lazy kids...

Ok, so for a little more money you could get a cubic foot of gold. Same space yet it's about 500 pounds heavier and is not harmful to the handler or environment. It is always shiny and you will attract women easily with a $35M chunk of ballast bling. You still have that floatation problem if you get swamped but at least you'll know the divers will go down to get your boat back up without any question.

Well, this thread got a few people kicked off the discussion board. Sorry folks. I'm tired of trolls, my patience is short, so I'm just going to start kicking people off when I feel like they don't contribute positively to the discussion board.

Well, this thread got a few people kicked off the discussion board. Sorry folks. I'm tired of trolls, my patience is short, so I'm just going to start kicking people off when I feel like they don't contribute positively to the discussion board.

AMEN!! I didn't know saying thanks for something was going to turn into this...